Profiles

Tarja Halonen is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th President of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central...

Touko Valio Laaksonen , best known by his pseudonym Tom of Finland , was a Finnish artist known for his stylized highly masculinized homoerotic fetish art, and for his influence on late twentieth centu...

Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American figure skater, actress, and sports commentator. A former competitor in ladies' singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World champi...

Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, pop singer, film producer, and author. He starred in more than 40 films and was a well-known Hollywood star of ...

A gay icon is a public figure (historical or current) who is embraced by many within lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities.

Qualities

Gay icons often include glamour, flamboyance, strength through adversity, and androgyny in presentation.

Such icons may be of any sexuality or gender; they may also be closeted or open with their sexual orientation and gender identity. Although most gay icons have given their support to LGBT social movements, some have expressed opposition – advocating against a perceived "homosexual agenda".

Historical icons

Icons are typically elevated to such status because their sexual orientation remains a topic of great debate among historians.

Modern gay icons, who are predominantly female entertainers, commonly garner a large following within LGBT communities over the course of their careers. The majority of gay icons fall into one of two categories: the tragic, sometimes martyred figure or the prominent pop culture idol.